Leo ran through the smoke and debris, eyes focused on Dauphin, who had caught the purple unicorn in the corner of his eye. The two approached one another, Leo only gave Dauphin a cold look. There was no way he could even speak to his former leader, he just wanted to end the whole thing.

The two unicorns circled around slowly as they came closer. The two had known each other’s fighting styles perfectly, had them wired into memory. Leo sized Dauphin up, remembering old faults and trying to figure out if they were still there or not. He was certain Dauphin was doing the same thing.

Leo knew that Dauphin was basically unmatched in raw magical ability, and no one had known as many offensive spells as him. But there was one area Leo was always more skilled in: creativity. The dark-purple unicorn had always had a knack for using the environment around him to his advantage. He shot his eyes up and found a small series of cracks in the damaged ceiling. Dauphin took the opportunity and fired several bolts of lightning from his glowing horn. Leo blew a hole in the ceiling with a simple destruction spell, sending dozens of large rocks plummeting towards the floor around Dauphin, blocking several of the bolts.

Leo rolled to the ground, dodging the few wild bolts of lighting. The unicorn got back to his feet quickly and let a ball of fire fly from his horn at Dauphin, who was just shaking off Leo's last attack. The white unicorn formed a magical shield in front of himself and stood his ground while the flames washed over the edges, singeing him for a few seconds.

Dauphin turned his shield into a battering ram of magical power, running it into Leo, sending the purple unicorn flying through the air. He recovered quickly as he shot a single bolt of lightning at Dauphin, who blocked the attack with a similar offensive spell. The two streams of magical power seemed to lock into one another for a few seconds before letting of a large explosion at their converging point.

The two soldiers flew back through the air and skidded across the debris-covered floor. They both took a few moments to gather themselves as they recovered from the explosion.

"I want you to know," Dauphin said weakly, knowing that the fight would soon come to an end," I want you to know I never wanted things to turn out this way."

"You make it sound like you didn't have a choice," Leo replied as he got back on his hooves," you never had to betray your friends. We could have beaten this. But no, you chose leave behind everypony who cared about you in exchange for power. We took an oath to serve Equestria D', and you just threw that away."

"I did what I thought was best for Equestria," Dauphin said," whether you like or not, deep down, you know that I really did do what was best for Equestria and her people."

"No," Leo said as his horn began to glow," you did what was best for yourself." He fired a beam of energy at Dauphin, hitting the white unicorn square in the chest, sending him hurtling towards the eastern wall of the room by a collection of cells. Dauphin turned to fight back, but found the gated door of a cell, swinging at him, locking his horn into place as it swung back into place, whipping Dauphin against the wall. Leo unleashed one final push of magical power, forcing Dauphin through the cell wall and into the cell, writhing on the floor.

Dauphin looked up at the damaged ceiling above him, remembering Leo's attack from earlier he said weakly," Bury me... you win. Just finish it... I'm done."

"I'm sorry, Dauphin," Leo answered as he walked towards the pile of debris where Dauphin lay," you told me not long ago that you would see this through to the end. And you're going to do that, all the way to the end. You’ve made your bed, now you have to lie in it."

"Just..bucking... kill me," Dauphin said angrily, barely staying conscious.

"I'm not going to live with having killed one of my friends," Leo said before making sure that Dauphin was knocked out," that way, there's still hope... for both of us."

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Rainbowdash and Firefly stopped the chariot as it grinded to a halt behind the two athletic pegasi. Twilight and her dazed friends stumbled out of the chariot after the roller-coaster ride that they were just on. Originally, Fluttershy had been pulling the chariot as well, but Rainbowdash and Firefly were two of the best fliers in Equestria, it was impossible to expect Fluttershy to be able to keep up with both of them.

"I know we're in a rush and all," Rarity said as she nearly fell hopping out the crowded chariot," but do you THINK the barrel rolls were necessary?"

"Heh, sorry girls," Rainbowdash said as she unhooked the harness from around her," it's pretty rare that I get the chance to fly with somepony who can actually keep up with me."

"Likewise," Firefly said as she scanned the area for guards, they had landed on a balcony not too far from Canterlot Tower, her and Rainbowdash were fast, but it wouldn't be too long they could stay undetected," all work and no play."

"Maybe sometime when this thing is over you two can fly together," Twilight said as she pushed the glass doors open and the seven ponies galloped into the castle halls.

"I'll keep that in mind," Firefly replied as she motioned for the others to follow her down a the hallway leading to a spiral staircase that lead to the entrance of Canterlot Tower, " we need to move fast, once they find that chariot, the whole palace will be crawling with guards."

"Well that's just super-duper," Pinkie said sarcastically," those guys are always just a barrel full of laughs."

"Well if there are more ah those guards," Applejack drawled," i reckon' that we'll be seen one hay of a lot more ah those portals."

"Luckily, that's not a concern anymore," Firefly explained as they made their way up the staircase," thanks to Twilight's little explosion, we won't have to deal with those anymore." As the seven ponies came to the apex of the stairs and walked towards the entrance of the foyer of Canterlot Tower, they froze as they were met by dozens of guards, staffs leveled and ready to fire.

"How did they know we'd be here?" Twilight asked in a panic as they ran down into the foyer, slamming the massive doors behind them and barring it with a few spears pieces of metal from broken statues.

"No clue," Firefly responded, the guards outside beat on the door savagely, collectively trying to force it open like a battering ram," but there's nothing we can do about it now. Come on, we need to get this door open." The seven ponies searched the room for a way to break the lock on the door. Twilight eventually began trying to open the door with her magic, but it was to no avail.

"You don't think we'll need to find a key or something do you?" Rarity asked as the braces on the door behind them began to break.

"We shouldn't," Firefly said, looking that the hinges on the door," and if we did, then there's no way that we'll be able to make it." Her eyes remained fixed on the hinges of the door as an idea formed in her mind," Twilight, do you think you could do anything about removing those hinges?"

"The hinges?" Twilight asked as she figured out what Firefly was asking," not a bad idea, let me see what I can do." The stress on the door they had come in through became greater and greater with every second, the guards trying vigorously to break in.

"Well whatever ya do," Applejack remarked, eyes on the door," do it fast, Ah reckon' we've got less than a minute before those guards get in here." Applejack barely finished speaking before the doors burst open, slamming against the walls and unleashing a salvo of bolts from the multitude of staffs wielded by the guards. The seven ponies moved behind two pillars that stood on either side of the door they were trying to open. Twilight continued to try and break the hinges off of the doors. Applejack kicked the pillar she stood behind, knocking a few decent-sized rocks off. Rarity threw them at the guards on the far side of the room, trying to keep them from getting too close.

"Is there anything we can do, Firefly?" Rainbowdash asked as she floated above Applejack and Rarity.

"There's no way in hay we can fight all of them, I'm not as good of a fighter as Gates and Briggs are," Firefly responded," Twilight, it would great if you could get that door open."

"Just one second..." Twilight said as she pulled the final bolt from the hinges and let both drop to the ground," come on, girls. Let's push this thing down and get out of here!" The seven ponies all pushed on the door, but it didn't budge.

"Twilight," Rainbowdash asked quickly," are you sure you got everything?"

"I'm positive, this doesn't make sense, it-" Twilight stopped when she noticed Pinkie Pie shaking, "What is it Pinkie?"

"Ear-flop...eye-flutter... knee-twitch..." Pinkie Pie said slowly, while the guards behind them advanced cautiously.

"That means..." Applejack pondered," everypony get down!"

"Wait, what?" Firefly asked before Applejack brought her to the ground.

"Just do it!" the orange mare yelled as the ponies hit the ground. Barely a second after Applejack and Firefly hit the ground, the doors burst open next to them, sending the massive metal door flying at the guards, knocking many of them out. Plumes of smoke came from the hole that the door once stood in. The seven ponies opened their eyes after the blast and couldn't believe what they saw before them.

Princess Luna.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Briggs rolled to the ground as Gates blocked his advance. The brown pegasus took to the air and tried to flank Gates, but was knocked down with a deft swing of Gates' staff.

"Briggs," Gates said slowly," you don't have to do this. Just calm down for a second."

"I'm sorry Gates," Briggs responded as he got back to his hooves," but he's right. We have to do what's best for Equestria. Whether you can see it or not. I'm doing what's right." Briggs didn't give Gates a chance to reply. He streaked towards the gray pony, bringing him to the ground with a nimble yet powerful kick.

"Flank it, Briggs," Gates said as raised his hoof into his jaw and then brought the staff in his other hoof down on the back of his neck. Briggs grabbed the staff in his hooves, through the pain of being shocked he lifted it and slung Gates across the room.

Briggs began to fly towards Gates quickly. The gray pony dug his staff into the ground and held it outward, facing Briggs. The pegasus hit the staff square in the chest, sending him spiraling out of control,and breaking Gates staff in two.

Briggs struggled to stand back up. "Briggs, this is over. You can stop, it doesn't have to be like this," Gates pleaded with his friend to stop, knowing that there were only two ways this could end.

Briggs only shook his head and charged at Gates once more, Gates simply threw the weakened pegasus to the ground. Gates walked over to Briggs' almost motionless body, and looked down on his lost friend. "I'm sorry..." Briggs said weakly.

"Me too," Gates said as he raised his hoof into the air and drove it into Briggs' jaw, knocking the shattered pegasus out cold. Gates turned to Spark and steadily made his way towards the unicorn who had been watching the spectacle. "Alright, Spark," Gates began," let's finish this."

"Impressive," Spark remarked, noting Gates' fighting ability," it's a real shame you couldn't have been on our side, you would have made an incredible asset. But I can see there's no convincing you. So if you want to finish things. I won't deny you that." Gates charged at Spark, who fired a bolt of magical lightning at Gates, trying to trip him up. Gates tucked and rolled, avoiding the strike and shoulder checked Spark hard, knocking him to the ground.

Spark got back to his hooves and summoned a massive orb of energy and hurled it at Gates. Despite his best efforts, the earth pony was unable to avoid being hit by the attack, and was singed by the magical force. He shook of the pain and kept fighting with all the energy he had left. He dove at the unicorn and brought Spark to the ground once more. The unicorn did his best to spar with Gates hoof-to-hoof, but was severely outmatched without magic. Gates swept out Sparks two forelegs from underneath him, spun and bucked him in the chest, sending him skidding across the floor of the throne room.

"So," Gates scoffed," have you had enough?"

"Not yet," Spark replied as an idea came to his head. He summoned an illusion looking just like himself and made it appear to charge at Gates, while he followed close behind. While Spark knew the illusion couldn't actually harm Gates, he had a good feeling Gates wouldn't know that, leaving him susceptible to an actual attack.

Gates went back on his hind legs as the illusion came to him and drove his two forelegs into the image as it vanished. He turned his head and saw Spark charging, horn pointed down. He didn't try to fight it, he knew there was no way out now.

Spark drove his horn into Gates' side just below his ribs, he hefted the earth pony into the air and tossed him to the side of the room. Gates hit the ground and slid into the wall in between two shattered windows looking out into the sapphire sunset.

"Now we're done," Spark said as he looked out into the blazing sunset, leaving Gates alone while he bled, life flashing, crimson on his side.

Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty Six - Downfall Estimated time remaining: 16 Minutes